Cheap Pirates of released Games !?

[Cybertom]

Hi everybody,

 

i found this one on ebay today :

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...2&category=3528

 

It's a quadrun dump with self printed label.

 

I ask myself what this should be good for ? Wether you can own a real cart and can be proud to have it in your collection or you just own a cheap replicant and say "yeah - i did it - i own a faked quadrun". It's the same if i have no money and print me 1 million in self printed Inkjet quality notes and say "i'm a millionaire"

 

I mean releasing a prototype game is o.k. but why the f... releasing rare games ? Only to bring confusion and questions about authenticity of the rare titles ?

 

I think this isn't a good idea because maybe one day somebody finds a cheap method to reproduce absolutely authentic looking labels and sells them as originals and who will identify them any longer without open it and ruin the label ???

 

greetings

Tom

[Csonicgo]

maybe because the person would buy it for the GAME part, hmm?

[moycon]

I guess if you couldn't tell by looking at the cart...What difference would it make if you didnt know??

 

I think paying $100's of dollars for one cart is kinda coo-coo to begin with, but I guess if I was willing to pay the cash, and couldn't tell the difference...Ignorance would be bliss. I'd still be out $100's of dollars and I'd still have one atari game. Just like if I had the real thing....WOOHOO!!

[SimonTemplar]

I think the buyer of that replicart will try reselling it as a genuine Quadrun cart. There are just too many "professional ebay resellers" out there. I don`t trust ebay anymore.

[Zeus]

I figure the number of fakes is going to rise steadily over time, eventually reducing the value of extremely rare carts.

[CPUWIZ]

I figure the number of fakes is going to rise steadily over time, eventually reducing the value of extremely rare carts.

 

Not for real collectors.

[bjk7382]

I figure the number of fakes is going to rise steadily over time, eventually reducing the value of extremely rare carts.

 

Not for real collectors.

 

wouldn't the rise in repros make the cost of the actual game go up?

[Zeus]

Not if there arises doubts as to the authenticity. Oh well, I'll never have to worry about that anyway.

[Csonicgo]

I know how to tell authenticity- smell it. I'm serious. there's a way to tell if it's new or not- if it has a stale smell( like all my old games have, unlike my new game, smells of plastic) then it's probably authentic. look at the board. it should be green with a yellow (maybe orange) tint to it. if anything looks, feels, or smells out of place, it's probably a repro. I know some of the games have white circuit boards... oh well. I have no Idea what I'm talking about.

[SimonTemplar]

I figure the number of fakes is going to rise steadily over time

 

I agree 100%. In fact, that quadrun replicart is what would be called a "first generation counterfeit. "

[SimonTemplar]

wouldn't the rise in repros make the cost of the actual game go up?

 

Yes. Games with proofs of authenticy like original price tags, certificates of authenticity, original bills of purchase, etc. will rise in value.

I keep all records of my purchasing activities, bills, stubs, etc. with my video games as these will authentify my collection in the future.

[Video]

If I could get a repro, pirate, whatever cart cheaply, I'd probably do it. But I wouldn't try selling it as an original or anything. From a gamer standpoint, it'd be awesome to have and play, from a collectors standpoint, it would suck, cause it's not the original (though years down the road you could say "genuine original 03 pirate cart" ) LOL

[Cootster]

I'd make them all . . . Doubt I'd want to sell them, but then I could play every freaking game the way it was intended . . .

 

How much is a burner, anyway? Cheaper than convincing one of the lucky Cuttle Cart owners to part with their treasure?

 

No different than say, a lithograph Picasso . . . Unless you put it out there as the real thing . . . But since all games, even the non-Atari ones, would be in Atari cases, that would be hard, unless it was Quadrun or Waterworld . . .

[Cybertom]

Hi,

 

@ Csonicgo

 

if you want to play it only - you can download the rom and use the emulator !

 

@ Zeus

 

I also don't think fakes will reduce the value of the originals it only makes the search for it harder because of identifying (IMHO it could rise the value for originals).

 

@ Csonicgo

 

your "smell method" isn't a really bad idea but how will you do that before bidding on such a game

 

Of cause actually you can compare a repro with an original and see the difference but as i said maybe one day you can't see it any longer because the repros are perfect. Just think of the Audio CD replicas - here in germany you can see hundrets of them on the flea market - they are professionally assembled (mostly they come from Poland, Czech, aso)with original silver CD's professional Print, and professional Cover - it's nearly impossible to identify them as fakes !

 

I only wanted to say that it's not a good idea to make this repro carts of already released games - it only makes collecting harder

 

greetings

Tom